


Bonding over worry

by AbschaumNo1



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: M/M, fluffy fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-14
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-29 07:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/684161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They bond over their worry</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonding over worry

**Author's Note:**

> Started about two months ago I finally managed to finish this story. So have a happy Valentine's Day everyone and some fluffy fluff for the lot of you.

They bond over their worry. Because as much as Bill Tanner seems unfazed by anything, Bond is the last constant in their lives. Because now that M’s gone, Bond is all that’s left; the last bit of her that’s still there. The agent she trusted.

Q may not have worked for MI6 for long, but it has been long enough to connect MI6 with her presence. And he knows Tanner’s been there almost as long as she was, but Tanner is Tanner and even though Q knows he’s there he doesn’t feel like his presence is as remarkable as Bond’s is. Bond feels like her legacy, like the thing she left behind for them. And so they both worry about him.

They hide it well. Hide it in equipment handed to him and quips of “It would be much appreciated if you brought it back in one piece.” They hide it in their presence during Bond’s missions, in being there and following his progress, in telling him where to go and how to get out; in helping him.

They both know that they worry without saying it. They look at each other and nod and do their work. They don’t need words. It’s enough to see the other being there to know that they both want the same: Keep Bond safe. Keep the last bit of her in the agency safe (They are as much bits of her as he is, but they don’t feel like it. Bond is special, has always been).

Mallory knows it, too. He’s not M for them, yet. He might be, in time. But it’s too soon. She’s still too present and they can’t see him as M yet. But Mallory accepts it and doesn’t force it and if he sees them being in Q-branch late into the night, because Bond’s on a mission again he doesn’t say anything. And if he forces them to go on leave for some days after staying awake for several days while monitoring 007 it’s certainly not because they are as much needed as the double-0, but because he needs them in a good enough condition to actually be able to do their work (they are the best for their jobs and he knows it).

Sometimes they monitor missions in silence, only stating the necessary. Sometimes they talk; about mundane things. How things get more expensive, books, films, gossip, Q-branch’s newest betting pool. Some nights, when there’s nothing to do but wait are like that. They sit in Q-branch with coffee and tea respectively, talk and wait.

Time does her thing and passes and before they know it they develop from companions to friends to something closer they neither have words for nor want to label in any way. They rather dance around it and don’t touch the subject. They know they can trust each other. They know so much about each other, so many small details and it feels like the most normal thing on earth. Q knows Tanner has a fondness for baked goods. Tanner knows exactly how Q likes his Earl Grey (and is the only person Q allows to make it for him).

They don’t have to talk about themselves. There’s no need to explain who they are. Tanner is chief of staff, he was involved enough in Q’s recruiting to know about him. And Q just hacked into Tanner’s file some time ago. It’s the other things they have to talk about; demons from their past, little childhood things, memories of friends and family. And those are the things they talk about.

It’s Tanner who makes the first step. It’s Tanner who invites Q to dinner one evening. Nothing big, just something to eat after they made sure Bond got safely through the mission. It is not necessarily a date to them, but they know it might be. They eat and talk and both decide that it was nice and they should do this more often. It’s not like anything happens, but when they part they both feel like there is the promise of something.

It’s not the last time they go out. It’s just the first of many. Whoever initiates it pays and Tanner does more of the initiating than Q does. Sometimes it almost feels like there is some kind of intention behind it, but they never quite think about that. It’s okay not to; it’s okay to just have dinner every once in a while and not think about it too hard. It’s okay just to enjoy it. And if they move closer than before it’s because there’s wine or beer.

There’s a change when Tanner invites Q to his place for dinner. There’s a different feeling to this one. It’s heavier, does somehow carry more meaning to it. Q accepts and brings the wine.

It goes slow, this thing between them; a dinner here, a lunch there, a meeting when they are on (forced) leave and then another mission for Bond. They take long to get anywhere and there are months and months of casual outings (dates) before they kiss for the first time.

It’s casual. Almost fleeting. They just said their goodbyes after another dinner and Tanner leans over to Q and kisses him. A quick peck on the lips, nothing more. He pulls away immediately and smiles at Q before he turns away to go. It takes Q a moment to recover from his stupor but when he does he grabs Tanner’s shoulder before he’s turned away completely and pulls him in for another kiss.

Their relationship at work doesn’t really change. They are professionals; they know that their first duty is to Queen and country. Maybe there’s the occasional cup of tea that Tanner brings with him when he comes down to Q-branch. Or a bag from the bakery on Tanner’s desk whenever Q has an excuse. Small gestures like these are all they allow themselves at work.

At home it is different. They still live in two flats, but Q’s is as much Tanner’s as Tanner’s is Q’s and there has been a slow but steady exchange of small things ever since their relationship started earnestly. There’s no rule to when they go where, nothing set about when they use which flat and if they are honest they don’t even know why they don’t just move in with each other (it’s because they wouldn’t know which one to keep and which one to give up, the same goes for the furniture). They act closer at home, more familiar. At home they can be as they are. At home they are just two men, in love with each other. At home they can spend the evening in front of the TV, Q curled up against Tanner. At home they can allow themselves the illusion that they don’t have anything to do with MI6, that they know nothing about spies and deadly agents. At home they can pretend to be normal.

Q always waits for Tanner when he has to accompany M somewhere abroad. He doesn’t brood or anything and he is far from being like those sappy couples Hollywood seems to like so much. He goes about his day and waits for Tanner to come back. And when Tanner enters the flat upon his return he always finds Q in the kitchen, just finishing preparations for dinner (he never asks how he knows; it’s just a thing he does and Tanner has to admit that he quite likes it). It turned out that Q cooks well enough, maybe not like an awarded chef, but better than Tanner ever could. And coming home at whatever time it is that he manages to, a meal, a smile and a kiss waiting for him, is always a highlight of his day.

But coming home is only one highlight. There are also the mornings to consider. Because as great as coming home to the one he loves is, there is also waking up. They have to leave at the same time most days, which means they stand up and go through their morning routines at the same time. Tanner loves to wake up to the sight of messy locks and a disgruntled face. Q is not exactly a morning person and his sleepy face is more than enough to make Bill smile in the morning (the damage he can do before his first cup of Earl Grey is nevertheless remarkable, it just increases the later it is).

All in all it can be said that out of worry they have found together. Out of worry they have found each other and out of love they stay together. They aren’t one of those cheesy and overly romantic couples, God beware, they are just two grown men who have become friends and then more. They are realistic about their lives and their jobs. But nevertheless they are allowed to worry about each other. And if there is a romantic gesture once in a while, after one of them did something particularly dangerous for example, if that happens sometimes no one mentions it. Because they are as much M's legacy as MI6's best double-0 is.


End file.
